Local NAACP president among Moral Mondays arrestees

By Steve Huffman / Times-News

Published: Tuesday, June 25, 2013 at 04:21 PM.

Lewis said those who enter the Legislative Building at the conclusion of the weekly protests are those arrested. Police instruct the protesters they have five minutes to exit the building. A sort of countdown is initiated, at the end of which the arrests begin.

Lewis said anyone under 18 or with a criminal record is told not to participate, not to enter the building. She said those involved in the protests and who consent to being arrested are among the most moral people she’s met – determined to stand for their convictions regardless.

“The government is supposed to help people,” Lewis said. “They’re passing laws that are hurting people.”

Lewis, 76, laughed that she’s been questioned about how long she plans to continue to protest. As long as need be until changes come, she said.

“People have got to stop being silent,” Lewis said. “I’m not going to be silent anymore.”

Ernestine Lewis said she’s never doubted her decision to get arrested as part of the “Moral Mondays” protests outside the state capital in Raleigh.

Lewis, president of the Alamance County branch of the NAACP, was arrested June 10.

“I know I did the right thing,” she said.

Moral Mondays is a series of protests organized by the NAACP and staged against actions of the Republican-led state legislature. More than 100 people were arrested this past Monday, bringing the number arrested since the peaceful protests began in April to more than 600.

Lewis said attention needs to be drawn to the actions of the legislature. If it takes getting arrested to draw that attention, she said, so be it.

“People are being hurt,” Lewis said. “The policies of our government are hurting the people of North Carolina.”

Lewis agreed with most of those arrested that police are exceedingly nice in performing their duties against the hundreds involved in the acts of civil disobedience. Plastic handcuffs are used to restrain them.

Lewis said those who enter the Legislative Building at the conclusion of the weekly protests are those arrested. Police instruct the protesters they have five minutes to exit the building. A sort of countdown is initiated, at the end of which the arrests begin.

Lewis said anyone under 18 or with a criminal record is told not to participate, not to enter the building. She said those involved in the protests and who consent to being arrested are among the most moral people she’s met – determined to stand for their convictions regardless.

“The government is supposed to help people,” Lewis said. “They’re passing laws that are hurting people.”

Lewis, 76, laughed that she’s been questioned about how long she plans to continue to protest. As long as need be until changes come, she said.

“People have got to stop being silent,” Lewis said. “I’m not going to be silent anymore.”